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The California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) has elected Joel Ramirez, MD, MBA, to its board of directors. Ramirez is chief medical officer of Camarena Health, a federally qualified health center system serving Madera County and the surrounding Central Valley. He practices family medicine and sits on California’s Future of Medi-Cal Commission. His term begins in December.
“Community health centers are a cornerstone of California’s safety net, and Joel has spent his career inside that system,” said Liz Gibboney, chair of the CHCF board of directors. “He still sees patients while also running the operations of a health center in a rural county. That perspective is going to be incredibly valuable to us.”
From the Central Valley, For the Central Valley
Ramirez was raised in the Central Valley by an immigrant farmworker family. Their perseverance shaped his commitment to service and education. He studied at UCLA as an undergraduate and went on to the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He completed a family medicine residency and sports medicine fellowship at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles and earned a master’s degree from the USC Marshall School of Business.
After training in health care administration for federally qualified health center systems, he returned to the Central Valley and built his career there.
“The Central Valley feeds the country, yet it’s also where the gap between what people need and what the system delivers keeps widening,” said CHCF President and CEO Sandra R. Hernández, MD. “Joel has spent his career working to close that gap. He brings a clinician’s perspective along with a deep understanding of the economic realities facing community health centers.”
Ramirez serves on the Future of Medi-Cal Commission, which is examining how the program can better serve the millions of Californians who depend on it. He is also a delegate to the California Medical Association and a member of the California Primary Care Association Advocates Board. He recently completed the National Hispanic Health Foundation Leadership Fellowship. His professional interests include the use of data and technology to improve care for underserved communities across the state.
“I am truly honored and grateful to join the CHCF Board of Directors,” Ramirez said. “The foundation’s commitment to ensuring that all Californians, especially those who have historically faced barriers to care, can get the health care they need resonates deeply with my own passion and lifelong work serving underserved communities. I look forward to helping advance this mission.”
